fluticasone and salmeterol oral inhaler, Advair Diskus, Advair HFA

Omudhome Ogbru, PharmD

Dr. Ogbru received his Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of the Pacific School of Pharmacy in 1995. He completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency at the University of Arizona/University Medical Center in 1996. He was a Professor of Pharmacy Practice and a Regional Clerkship Coordinator for the University of the Pacific School of Pharmacy from 1996-99.

Jay W. Marks, MD

Jay W. Marks, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

GENERIC NAME: fluticasone propionate and salmeterol oral inhaler

BRAND NAME: Advair Diskus, Advair HFA

DRUG CLASS AND MECHANISM: Advair is a combination of inhaled drugs that is used to treat asthma and chronic bronchitis. In patients with asthma, the smaller airways (bronchioles) through which air moves in and out of the lungs can be narrowed by accumulation of mucus, spasm of the muscles that surround these airways, or swelling of the lining of the airways due to inflammation. Airway narrowing leads to symptoms of
shortness of breath, wheezing, cough, and congestion. Medications used in treating asthma include those that open airways, called bronchodilators, and those that reduce inflammation.

Advair contains a combination of salmeterol, a bronchodilator of the beta-2 agonist type, and
fluticasone propionate, an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid. Beta-2 agonists are medications that attach to beta-2 receptors on the smooth muscle cells that surround the airways, causing the muscle cells to relax and open the airways. Fluticasone propionate is a synthetic (man-made) corticosteroid of the glucocorticoid family which is related to the natural hormone, cortisol or hydrocortisone, produced by the adrenal glands. Glucocorticoid steroids have potent anti-inflammatory actions. In asthmatic patients, the suppression of inflammation within the airways reduces the swelling caused by inflammation that narrows the airways. At the same time, production of mucus is reduced. When used in lower doses, very little inhaled fluticasone propionate is absorbed into the body and side effects are infrequent. When higher doses are used, fluticasone is absorbed and may cause side effects elsewhere in the body. The FDA approved Advair Diskus in August, 2000 and Advair HFA in June 2006.